How much did you pay for your tune???

This is a discussion on How much did you pay for your tune??? within the Computer & Tuning forums, part of the LSx Technical Help Section category; Well, I found a shop that has time available for me to get dyno tuned. They said that pricing starts ...

How much did you pay for your tune???

Well, I found a shop that has time available for me to get dyno tuned. They said that pricing starts at $500, I was wondering if this price was resonable, or should I keep shopping around. Also, what did you pay for you tune in comparison?...

No hook ups lol. That was just the regular price for a bolt on tune at Harris Speed Works. They advertise here on the LS1.com.

Since then (last summer) I believe the price has gone up to $299 though, which is still a good deal IMO.

That is a good deal.

My rates break out something like this:

Bolt-ons GenIII (98-02) f-bodies: $300
Internal engine mods, f-bodies:$375-$450 with the variability being dyno time, though it usually falls to the bottom of that range; $375-$400 would be normal.

GenIII Vettes add $25 to those rates.

Forced induction is handled on a case-by-case basis since setups can vary greatly.

Newer cars cost a bit more, as the price for additional HPT licensing is present.

Also not that the rates on my website have a footnote that says that dyno time is extra, that's why rates look cheaper there than what I have posted here.

Also, find out what you are getting for your dollar. If it costs over $300 and the tuner is using dated software like LS1-edit, I'd keep looking around. This is *especially* true with H/C or more radical setups. ASK the tuner point blank will he be tuning the MAF/VE or altering your injector table to get part-throttle in line. If it's the latter of the two, you definitely don't want this for your H/C setup. Much of my work is retuning from other local shops that still think that "injector tuning" is ok.

Also, find out what you are getting for your dollar. If it costs over $300 and the tuner is using dated software like LS1-edit, I'd keep looking around. This is *especially* true with H/C or more radical setups. ASK the tuner point blank will he be tuning the MAF/VE or altering your injector table to get part-throttle in line. If it's the latter of the two, you definitely don't want this for your H/C setup. Much of my work is retuning from other local shops that still think that "injector tuning" is ok.

2 part story that I'll share about what was just said....
Part 1... Last Summer I bought my 2000 SS, A4 car. I had "heard" how great this LS1 tuner guy was, at a local shop in Maryland. Feel free to PM me for the name. Most everyone I talked to said that he was the guy to see. He tuned the car for the longtubes and ORY shortly after I bought it, and then re-tuned it right after my cam swap...probably around October 2007. The car idled pretty well, and ran good ET/MPH, so it seemed all was good.

I planned to race in a 12.0 naturally aspirated Index Class in the Ram racing series. To do this, I needed to slow the car down, from 11.60-11.70's. I scored my own copy of HPTuners in a package deal and figured I'd simply toy with WOT shift settings to do so. At this point, tune was un-touched by me.

Fast Forward about 2 months and car develops a hanging idle, sticking at 2 grand, then dropping after car was completely stopped. I called, PM'd and emailed my "tuner" since any changes up to this point were done solely by him. I had no luck doing so, so I PM'd Frost and asked if he could look at my tune to see if there was anything obvious that was out of kilter. Even though he didn't do the original tune, he graciously offered to help, since I had no luck with contacting the other guy.

After a few hours he emailed me back a "new tune" to try, and explained that there were several things that were changed incorrectly, and admittedly, I had no idea (for the most part) WTF he was talking about, lol...He also noticed that NONE of my automatic transmission settings had been changed. He offered to get those where they needed to be for me as well. It took Frost's skills and patience, along with my relentless PITA skills to finally get it as well running (all around) as it does now.

The parts he changed that I didn't understand were the parts he mentioned above...MAF/VE tuning versus injector table changes. My injectors were never changed, so why the car was originally tuned locally and bass ackwards tuned is beyond me? Frost has won a customer for life and I cannot thank him enough for what he has done with my car's tune, and that was via email with me re-flashing it with my HPTuners setup!!! Thanks again Steve. Your help is greatly appreciated, then and now.

Part 2

Just before my car's idle started acting up, my good friend's cam/head/intake 2003 Z06 was surging badly and was no longer enjoyable to drive. He had paid someone down South to re-flash his PCM several times, and the car was never right. I suggested he try my original tuner, since at that time I had no idea mine wasn't right, and the fact he was local and car could be tuned "in person"...

In a nutshell, he tried tuning the Z06's idle and part throttle exactly as he did mine, by altering injector tables. He gave him car back, and said it would probably re-learn and smooth out. It never did, and in the meantime mine acted up, then was straightened out by Frost, so I suggested he let Frost "email tune" his barely driveable car. Again, Frost took the task of straightening out the botched tuning job of someone who some people still think knows what he's doing...Luckily, it wasn't as bad as mine, and after 3 re-flashes and with Frost using nothing but text messages, datalogs, and a few phone calls, his Corvette frickin FLIES!!! More importantly, it idles and is very docile in "normal" driving too.

Sorry to write the book, but just wanted to share my experience with crappy, discounted tuning services. Frost aka LSxTune.com is the man.

Sooner or later I'm going to make the trek down to him and let him work his magic on my car in person. The ET's didn't change, but the 99% time I am not drag racing is 110% better than it ever was. Not to mention, the car went from 10 MPG's with old tune, to over 20 now in mixed driving conditions. I can't complain with a mid 11 second naturally aspirated car getting decent mileage, all the while knowing I can smoke probably 90% of whatever pulls alongside me out on the road...

2 part story that I'll share about what was just said....
Part 1... Last Summer I bought my 2000 SS, A4 car. I had "heard" how great this LS1 tuner guy was, at a local shop in Maryland. Feel free to PM me for the name. Most everyone I talked to said that he was the guy to see. He tuned the car for the longtubes and ORY shortly after I bought it, and then re-tuned it right after my cam swap...probably around October 2007. The car idled pretty well, and ran good ET/MPH, so it seemed all was good.

I planned to race in a 12.0 naturally aspirated Index Class in the Ram racing series. To do this, I needed to slow the car down, from 11.60-11.70's. I scored my own copy of HPTuners in a package deal and figured I'd simply toy with WOT shift settings to do so. At this point, tune was un-touched by me.

Fast Forward about 2 months and car develops a hanging idle, sticking at 2 grand, then dropping after car was completely stopped. I called, PM'd and emailed my "tuner" since any changes up to this point were done solely by him. I had no luck doing so, so I PM'd Frost and asked if he could look at my tune to see if there was anything obvious that was out of kilter. Even though he didn't do the original tune, he graciously offered to help, since I had no luck with contacting the other guy.

After a few hours he emailed me back a "new tune" to try, and explained that there were several things that were changed incorrectly, and admittedly, I had no idea (for the most part) WTF he was talking about, lol...He also noticed that NONE of my automatic transmission settings had been changed. He offered to get those where they needed to be for me as well. It took Frost's skills and patience, along with my relentless PITA skills to finally get it as well running (all around) as it does now.

The parts he changed that I didn't understand were the parts he mentioned above...MAF/VE tuning versus injector table changes. My injectors were never changed, so why the car was originally tuned locally and bass ackwards tuned is beyond me? Frost has won a customer for life and I cannot thank him enough for what he has done with my car's tune, and that was via email with me re-flashing it with my HPTuners setup!!! Thanks again Steve. Your help is greatly appreciated, then and now.

Part 2

Just before my car's idle started acting up, my good friend's cam/head/intake 2003 Z06 was surging badly and was no longer enjoyable to drive. He had paid someone down South to re-flash his PCM several times, and the car was never right. I suggested he try my original tuner, since at that time I had no idea mine wasn't right, and the fact he was local and car could be tuned "in person"...

In a nutshell, he tried tuning the Z06's idle and part throttle exactly as he did mine, by altering injector tables. He gave him car back, and said it would probably re-learn and smooth out. It never did, and in the meantime mine acted up, then was straightened out by Frost, so I suggested he let Frost "email tune" his barely driveable car. Again, Frost took the task of straightening out the botched tuning job of someone who some people still think knows what he's doing...Luckily, it wasn't as bad as mine, and after 3 re-flashes and with Frost using nothing but text messages, datalogs, and a few phone calls, his Corvette frickin FLIES!!! More importantly, it idles and is very docile in "normal" driving too.

Sorry to write the book, but just wanted to share my experience with crappy, discounted tuning services. Frost aka LSxTune.com is the man.

Sooner or later I'm going to make the trek down to him and let him work his magic on my car in person. The ET's didn't change, but the 99% time I am not drag racing is 110% better than it ever was. Not to mention, the car went from 10 MPG's with old tune, to over 20 now in mixed driving conditions. I can't complain with a mid 11 second naturally aspirated car getting decent mileage, all the while knowing I can smoke probably 90% of whatever pulls alongside me out on the road...

I'm pretty sure I PMed Frost before about getting a tune, just I figured I wouldn't be able to get my car out there for him to work on it. From what it sounds like I should probably go the HPtuner route and work out a deal with Frost to get a tune sent to me.

Frost is this possible, if so, could you PM me what you would charge to do this? I would much rather have it done right the first time.